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2010 is coming to a close and 2011 is right around the corner whether we are ready or not! With a New Year comes an opportunity to start anew, to get a fresh take on old habits and have a change for a good old fashion “do over.”

We asked the parents and grandparents at Kolcraft to let us know what their parenting resolutions are for 2011. We wanted to share them with you. Some of them are very creative and give a wonderful start to 2011.

Family Traditions – My New Year’s resolution as a mom and grandma is to carry on more traditions and to document more events and family history. Simple traditions like decorating the family tree together or building a gingerbread house form memories that last forever. I often wish I had kept more photos and asked more questions of my dad, grandparents, and also my husband’s family, who have all passed on. As you get older, you get more curious about family history, and much of the information gets lost from generation to generation. I am going to keep more photos and journals for my family. -TH (editor’s note. We LOVED this resolution because it leaves a legacy for her whole family to enjoy!)

Taking Time – My resolution is to be more patient with my kids by taking a few minutes each day to recharge my mommy battery. - MS

Going High Tech - Our grandson lives 6 hours away and we don’t get to see him nearly as much as we want to. We are going to get a video camera and connect with our son via skype so we can see our grandson more often! -RB

Date Nights - It’s easy to get caught up in the kid’s activities and schedules that my husband and I find it hard to spend time on our marriage. We are going to try to have date nights once a month. They don’t have to be expensive, it may even be having a glass of wine together after the kids go to bed, but it’s time for us to nurture our marriage. -NL

Healthy Meals – I am going to try to plan our family menu out at the beginning of the week so I plan healthier meals. If I don’t plan, I end up relying on fast food. – PM

Hugs - I will hug, smile, and tell my child I love them at least once a day. -CS

Education – I will encourage my grandsons to study hard and work towards college. – CH

What parenting resolutions do you have?

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13 Responses to “Parenting Resolutions for 2011”

I resolve to have more patience with a 3 year old!!! lol I REALLY resolve to keep the house in better order (like that will EVER happen!!!) My biggest resolution concerning the house would be to DONATE some of the toys that we never use, or store them away. My kid has too many toys to play wiht, but I don’t have enough storage space to put some away…yet I can’t part with some of the stuff either. It’s a tough situaiton. SO I resolve to be stronger about it!

I am so for the date night resolution. My Husband and I just had our 3rd boy and we are realizing now that we should have taken advantage of a date night. We want to start a New Years Resolution to go on at least 2 dates a month, out of the house!
I also am making my own resolution to workout 4 times a week and get my body in shape. I don’t need to be a size 2, but I do need to be healthy. Not just for me but my children also!

I have three I am going to get my kids to be more outgoing by scheduling more play dates and with different kids. I am going to have more patience and try and teach the correct behavior instead of just sending to timeout. I am also going to try and cut down tv time even more.

I enjoyed reading all these ideas. It never crossed my mind what kind of parenting resolutions I wanted to make. Guess I have a list to make now! I definatly need to learn that kids will be kids, be patient. It’s hard somtimes being a mom but it’s also hard being little. Thanks for the great ideas!

I totally agree with the need for a date night. My husband and I have been letting that slide lately and need to be better about reconnecting in the new year. I also want to expect less from my 5 year old and be more patient with my 3 year old. They are both so good, that I sometimes take it for granted and get too upset when they act like kids…

I agree with the first resolution. After fighting cancer this last part of the year, I totally understand the need to make family traditions very important. I have three small children who are still too little to understand the concept but not to little to start instilling in them our family traditions.